Urban Wildlife

What would you expect a four-and-three-quarter-year-old to say at the end of a four-and-a-half-mile hike that she just finished using her own two feet? “What a wonderful day,” Sofi announced when we walked past the old Tavern (that I was wishing was still a tavern) at Great Falls National Park.

On June 6, 2011, at approximately 7:15 p.m., Gaithersburg Animal Control captured a Copperhead snake in the 100 block of Swanton Lane in the Orchard Park Community. The Copperhead is one of only two venomous snakes that are indigenous to Maryland; the other is the Timber Rattlesnake.

Copperheads are the most active in the warmer summer months at dusk and evening hours. During daylight hours they are prone to lie underneath objects to take cover from the hot summer sun. Their natural camouflage coloring makes them difficult to detect if they are lying in leaves or brush.

While it is rare that City Animal Control officers encounter Copperheads in Gaithersburg, it is a reminder that residents should be aware of their surroundings when doing yard work and other outdoor activities.